Franz adds to menu, contemplates late-night service

He fries eggs with swift precision. He makes the campus-renowned “J.B.” sandwich. He greets every customer with a smile.

He’s that dude in the Laundromat. People know him.

He’s Franz Guest, owner of Franz’s Food. Franz has been a fixture on Main Street for the past eight years, serving an original selection of breakfast items, sandwiches, burgers, and fries to Durham locals and hungry UNH students.

And he doesn’t sit still.

This week, Franz is making some notable changes to his extensive menu. He’s adding three new breakfast sandwiches to a brand-new menu display. His credit card machine now operates through an Internet connection, resulting in speedier food purchases. And he’s even contemplating a return to late-night service, something he hasn’t done for years.

“I have a new manager,” Franz said, explaining this year’s onset of innovation. He said that was the first step in attracting enough employees. Only now has he begun toying with the idea of a late-night service for the college crowd, something he’d rather not do on his own.

“It’s like pulling an all-nighter night after night,” said Franz of the proposed 2:30 a.m. closings on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

If attempted, Franz said he would plan on selling breakfast items – ham and egg sandwiches, the “J.B.” – along with hot dogs, fried chicken, fries, and coffee. The coffee would be a “big public service,” as far as Franz is concerned.

“I think late nights are a good idea,” said Franz’s new manager Amelia Curtis, 20. “I don’t see why drunk UNH students wouldn’t want a J.B. in the morning.”

Franz hired Curtis last August. A lifelong Durham resident, Curtis has worked at a number of downtown shops and restaurants, including the Durham Marketplace and a stint managing Young’s restaurant.

The three new sandwiches will be introduced on the new menu by Saturday, Franz estimated.

“This is a big thing for me,” Franz said. “The menu board used to be all paper, now it’s vinyl. It’s more professional.”

The “Dr. G., “G.B.L.T.,” and “Annie’s Big Beef,” all combinations dreamed up by Franz and his staff, each have unique ingredients and creation methods.

The “Dr. G.” consists of fried tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, garlic, an egg with melted cheese (“preferably cheddar,” Franz suggested), bacon, ham or sausage and hots on a flame-grilled bagel (plain or sesame).

“It’s good for you,” Franz said. “Those hots’ll cure ya. You could make mace from this.”

The “G.B.L.T.” —also known as the “Great bacon, lettuce, and tomato” sandwich is a classic B.L.T. with cheddar cheese and cucumbers.

“Because only your taste buds should discriminate,” Franz said.

Finally, “Annie’s Big Beef”, named after a worker, is made of peppers, onions and grilled roast beef, cooked on the grill with onions and covered with cheddar, ranch, and barbeque sauce on a fresh baguette.

 “This is nice, dense, thick bread,” Franz said. “Others go up in flames in seconds. I went looking for the best breads before I opened.”

 A repeated chart topper on the “New Hampshire’s Best” list, Franz was also listed as one of the television show Phantom Gourmet’s “eight best sandwich shops in the Boston area” this year. The sign sits behind one of the swinging glass doors in his tiny kitchen at the entrance of the Laundromat.

 Customers start lining up when he opens at eight a.m. every weekday. The line disappears only when he shuts down at 6 p.m. And he’s a favorite of the weekend hangover crowd, dishing up an excess of “J.B.” sandwiches to grateful students.

 Franz is sure his “J.B.,” named after a student, who consistently ordered the combination of fried eggs, bacon, cheese, hash browns, and ketchup in a flour tortilla, is the most popular sandwich on campus.

 “We sell more of those than any other sandwich altogether,” Franz said. He believes his attention to detail (he flame-grills every bagel, individually fries every onion listed in the menu, tailors different items on a customer-to-customer basis) sets him apart from everyone else.

 “It motivates me when people walk through the doors and say ‘thank you,’” he said. “They notice the difference.”

 For more scoop on the latest at Franz’s, visit his blog at http://franzsfood.blogspot.com/

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